In New York Together
by KittensWithDaggers
Summary: Dan didn't have to love or be loved. He could do whatever he wanted and not get hurt. Thankfully, he learned that at a young age. But then it all came back. Some people just have NO courtesy.
1. Remember Me?

The city streets were clogged with both people and noise. It was 4:58pm, rush hour. A sharp horn cut through the surrounding noise as a taxi pulled up to the curb of the court house. A tall brunette stepped out of the car with her hair tied in a messy bun and her belongings cradled in her arms. After she tossed her fare to the driver, she stumbled as fast as possible towards her first day (or night) of work. Her muscle-toned legs were able to carry her quickly in heels. She flashed her ID towards security and tried to remember the guard's instructions as she raced down the hall. 5:01pm.

* * *

"Well hi there, Miss." Harry had forgotten his robes on the bench while he napped there, so he wanted to quickly grab them before session. As it happened, he walked in just as a slightly frazzled woman dropped her belongings at the stenographer's chair. She looked distinctly Irish, with her dark brown curls, olive complexion, and green eyes. She also looked distinctly terrified.

"Hi... there..." she breathed, her eyes darting from his robes to his face. "Hi, your Honor... I'm... I'm sorry I'm late, the traffic, I underestimated, sir-"

"-so you're Lisette's replacement, huh?" he asked jovialy, sticking his hand out. She shook it hesitantly at first, but then a toothy smile danced across her features. "Judge Harry T. Stone."

"Kim Jenkins. No title."

Harry laughed. "We'll find a title for you in no time, Miss Jenkins."

"Kim's fine, your Honor."

"Harry's fine, Kim. And you're really not late. You think of this place like live theatre every night. Call is at five, but that doesn't mean that's when the show starts."

* * *

Kim cleared her throat and was about to ask when the show would begin exactly when she saw its overture in the form of two bailiffs- one larger than life, the other small with age-, a man in a knit sweater with files in hand, and a petite, beautiful blonde in a suit holding two thick binders.

"Oh." was all she could say.

"Harry!" the moving mountain called. "Mac says that Muhammad Ali could beat Batman in a fight!"

The man in the cardigan started impatiently, "I mean that Muhammad Ali is actually _real_ , Bull, Batman is-"

"-and Batman is too." the older woman said with a look that made her more terrifying than the aptly named 'Bull', while at the same time patting her pit-Bull reassuringly.

"Well yeah, I know that, but Mac-"

"Harry, I need to talk to you about this one reporter I ran into outside-" the blonde started.

"-guys, guys. I appreciate that you all missed me, but this is hardly the best first impression. Bull, we'll talk about this later, both _realistically_ and _theoretically_ , Mac. Christine, I hope it can wait until recess because I want you to meet our new stenographer, Kim Jenkins."

The chaos immediately broke and Kim was staring at four unexpectedly friendly faces.

"Thanks guys, I really appreciate it. It's nice being back in the city. I grew up here till I was about six or so, then I moved around a lot afterwards."

"Where'd you move? You've got some kind of twang, there." Christine asked.

Kim blushed. "I've lived in a lot of places. I've been trying to get all the twangs out, actually, for-"

"-Hey gang, sorry to interrupt, but we've got to start soon lest we be forced to release our damned group to the street." Harry said, now robed and stepping outside. Kim laughed at his manner before observing that she was laughing alone. This was normal, apparently.

"Hey, sorry, where's the prosecutor?" Kim called, looking around.

Christine rolled her eyes, taking a seat. "Dan? Probably getting his tie untangled from the mops in the closet."

Kim chuckled- these people were unreal- and looked up as if right on cue, a tall man with salt and peppered hair burst through the doors, straightening his tailored suit.

"Sorry, everyone," he said, "tying up some loose ends."

"You mean loose limbs." bailiff Roz commented before Bull cut across announcing court.

Kim heard nothing after the doors. Time slowed down to an infuriating pace as she watched Reinhold Daniel Fielding Elmore saunter over to the desk and subsequently rise when Harry was called in.

How could she not have foreseen this? Lawyer. New York. Of course.

She stood slowly, her head bowed. She took her cue to sit when everyone else sat down as well. She threw herself into her typing, trying to tune out the deep baritone arguing charges against New York's finest.

Kim panicked when Harry banged his gavel for recess.

The friendly Christine looked politely at Kim. She seemed more matured (and, she hated to admit it but judging from her voice alone, slightly more pleasant) than Lisette was. Christine pegged her in her late twenties to early thirties, takes care of herself, and seemed altogether harmless to invite to lunch.

"Kim, would you like to-"

"-family things, urgent, gotta go, see you later!" Kim called, bolting out the door first.

Christine thought about how strange that was. Then she decided that she'd seen a whole lot stranger.

* * *

"Where'd Kim go?" Harry asked in the middle of lunch.

"Who?" Dan asked with a flicker of annoyance. He didn't remember the names of all of Harry Stone's charity cases.

"The new girl. The stenographer." Bull supplanted.

"Do you know what a stenographer is, Bull?"

"Sure. You've got the Jews, the Christians, and the Stenographers. I don't judge."

Dan clapped him on the back and turned to the herd. "How is she? A light pixie dancing across the keyboards? Or a wildcat who knows how to use her strength?"

"Do you ever disgust yourself?" Christine asked.

"No, I like to save that for you."

"Her name's Kim Jenkins." Harry announced. "All we got to know about her is that she lived in New York till she was a little kid, then moved somewhere."

Dan's hesitation went unnoticed to the naked eye. "Kim Jenkins?" he repeated, folding his hands together.

"Yeah," Roz answered, "why? Sound like one of your playmates?"

"Probably." Dan said nonchalantly, grateful for the exit while the others continued their chat speculating about the new girl. He could bet that he knew where she was from. He could bet that he knew a lot of things about her. Really? Could this really be happening? Well no, he would not take the bait. It was a different time.

* * *

Court was back in session. Dan Fielding, now, was standing next to Christine Sullivan as Judge Stone looked at the docket.

Kim looked up hesitantly only to see him staring at her openly, but without recognition. "Hi." she mouthed stupidly, trying her best to look like over a decade's worth of apology.

Elmo- no, Dan, looked back up at Harry. " _Judge Stone I would like to mention the first case People of New York versus Courtney Feinberg_."

"Counselor, slow down. We are not rushed in any way and you might cause issues for the transcript." Harry admonished, looking down at Kim as she rushed to type everything out.

" _Sorry your Honor I didn't even notice."_ he answered smugly.

"It's okay, your Honor, I'm getting everything. Piece of cake." Kim glared up at Dan, with his hands behind his head. Only this time, unlike years ago, there was no love in this look.

The clock struck one in the morning when Harry finally pounded the gavel that sounded the end of Kim's first day. She stood and stretched.

"Miss Jenkins, approach the bench." Kim, confused but getting used to it, walked over to Harry as she felt Dan stare.

She turned around quickly. His head was bowed, gathering papers into his briefcase. It was just her self-centered imagination.

"Yes, your Honor?" she asked.

Harry stuck his hand behind her head and held a gold-wrapped chocolate coin in front of her eyes.

"A gold medal for your first day!" he smiled, looking amused at himself.

"Thank you, sir!" she laughed, unwrapping the chocolate and shoving it into her mouth. Avoiding people from her past didn't leave much room for her dinner break.

"How was it?"

"P-h-fine." she said through the chocolate.

"Oh! Before either of you go, I don't think you've met Dan yet, he's the assistant DA-"

"-gotta run, sorry, Harry, your Honor! Long night ahead of me!" Kim started towards the door-

"-wait." a deep voice said lightly. Dan was right by the door. "He's right. Unless, he isn't."

"Oh okay." was all she could say, smiling anywhere but his face.

"Have we met before, Miz Jenkins?"

"I- I don't- I'm not sure-" she sighed and looked at his face. So similar, but so different. The haughtiness didn't look practiced anymore. But nevertheless, she couldn't lie, the bumbling idiot. "Hi, Elm... it's Dan, huh? So you've got people to start calling you Dan."

"That's the name. Don't forget it, sweetheart."

"I might, if you keep talking like Road Runner."

And he walked out the door.

* * *

 _ **A/N: More to come, please let me know what you think!**_


	2. The Welcome Wagon

Kim exhaled breath she didn't know she was holding as the door swung closed behind him.

"Ugh." she said under her breath, looking around the courtroom.

Of course, Harry was staring right back.

"That was... interesting." Harry commented.

"Yeah." was all Kim could say, rubbing her arm.

"That wasn't just a one time thing, was it."

"Nope."

"And these kinds of things will probably happen again, won't they?"

"I hope n- probably." She waited for Harry to begin admonishing her.

"Well, it's fun to see Dan all shook up. Goodnight, Kim."

"Night, Harry." What a weird, weird place.

* * *

The next day she ventured to have lunch with her new coworkers. She sat with them, eating a cafeteria sandwich.

Christine looked up from her salad. "So where'd you work before this? Did you type before?"

"I've been to a few places, I-"

"-boy, I am _hungry_." He walked in and sat cross-legged on a chair, scoping out other people's foods. "What've we got?" Then suddenly his eyes rested on her. They got as cold as they did yesterday.

"Had a tough workout in the broom closet?" Mac asked with a laugh.

Dan broke eye contact to look at Mac. "Actually, you're right. And I think I'll be getting seconds instead of a sandwich." He stood, turned on his heel, and walked away.

"I don't know how he gets them, being that much of a creep sometimes." Christine commented.

"One's creep is another's charmer." Bull supplanted.

Only Harry looked Kim's way as she focused on her sandwich.

* * *

Dan pushed the door into Harry's office, files in hand. He only had twenty minutes before he had to fix himself up for his date with the red headed waitress with the gropey manager who was in two days before. He was getting chummy with _her_ though, hopefully she won't be in there flirting his usefulness out the window until she didn't need him. That would take up too much time.

"Your Honor, these are the revised case files I mentioned." he said casually, flicking the folder onto Harry's desk.

"Thanks, Dan. Oh, and can I ask you a question?"

"You're not my type, Harry."

"Real funny. But I was thinking more along the lines of a lady and her typewriter?"

Dan's face fell into bored annoyance. "Really, Harry, this is-"

"-hey! I'm just a curious boss. I'd like to know why two members of my courtroom seem to be at war from day one."

"Nobody's at war. I have no idea what you're talking about. Unlike you, I'm guessing, I've got a date to get to."

"So then you wouldn't mind coming to dinner this Friday? After shift ends."

"You're in luck, nobody's booked Dan Fielding yet."

"Great, I was thinking of having a welcome party for Miss Jenkins. Just a light dinner, maybe some drinks."

"Sounds like a waste of time."

"Sound's like Dan Fielding is scared of something."

Dan turned to Harry, speechless. He snorted twice before narrowing his eyes. "Dan Fielding is scared of nothing. You hear me?"

"Great," Harry smiled, not missing a beat, "so it's a reservation for seven, then."

* * *

"Oh, no, Harry that's a Friday night, I'm sure everyone has plans." Kim smiled apologetically after Wednesday night session. "We don't have to go to dinner on my account."

Was it her imagination, or did Dan make a "humph" sound from his crossword? He wasn't avoiding her anymore, but he wasn't exactly acknowledging her, either.

"We still don't know anything about you." Christine commented. Were she and Harry together? She wondered. Dan made passes at her regularly, but she never answered with anything but humor and indifference. He didn't seem to be more interested in her than the high-pitched, sparkly clad women he usually paraded through the court halls.

Kim glanced quickly at Dan, calculating. "Tell you what," she said, opening her arms, "instead of a quick dinner on Friday night, why don't _all_ of you come over at say three on Saturday afternoon. I live in Chinatown with a roommate, it's a tight walkup but we can definitely all fit inside. And she's friendly enough. I'll make some lunch, buy some wine..."

"I could get a case of beer and bring Quon Li." Mac offered.

"Let me bring a dessert." Christine offered.

"Well, great, that settles it!"

"I'll get you guys my address tomorrow." she said excitedly. "I'll write it down with my phone number and close subways, in case you guys want to not worry about driving home."

It was the first time she really felt at home, and it seemed like they could tell. Kim answered some questions about tastes and what she was thinking about making and requests. Finally, when the group was dispersing, she walked- or really, sauntered- up to Dan as he was packing his briefcase.

"You coming too?" she asked with an unabashedly friendly smile.

Without looking at her, Dan swished his coat around, putting it on. "Spend a Saturday in a shoebox apartment above a fish market with some shrimp 'n' grits and some Budweiser?"

"If that's still your favorite, Elmo-"

His head turned towards her sharply and he opened his mouth.

"-Dan will love to come. He already mentioned that he'd be going to your dinner, so this is pretty much the same thing." Harry said, staring at Dan as if he were lecturing a child.

Kim smiled a tight-lipped smile at the two of them before turning and walking out of the courtroom before the backbone she stole from someone slipped out.

She guessed that she deserved nothing less, after running away from her little town.


	3. The Party

Kim spent two hours and the remainder or her first paycheck baking a chicken, some pasta salad, and roasted potatoes. She assumed three bottles of wine- two red, one white, all a 50/50 shot at quality- would be enough, especially since the others would be bringing food and drinks.

She wondered if Dan would be bringing anything. Probably a gallon of spoilt milk, if anything.

She didn't know if she would be excited or nervous at him being here- so far, both. She did her best to make her apartment look as homey as possible. It was plain, with white walls and views of the apartments across the street, but when she rearranged some furniture it turned out that it was pretty roomy. Kim rented a few VHS tapes just in case- she didn't miss a beat on the party scale.

The phone ringing disturbed the temporary quiet.

"Kim and Sarah's." Even though her roommate turned out to be gone for the day, Kim still announced her name.

"Hi, it's Roz." the woman's voice drawled. "Sorry, honey, but we'll be late."

"Oh, that's fine, who's 'we'?"

"Christine, Bull, Harry, and I. We were planning on meeting up beforehand and coming down together but the train stalled, now we hopped out and we're trying to call a cab."

"What about Mac? And... the rest?" she asked, mentally kicking herself.

"Mac and Quon Li are coming from their place in Brooklyn, Dan's probably untangling himself from some blonde broad nearby. We'll be twenty minutes after we flag down a cab. My time's running out and I don't have any more change, so we'll see you. Sorry, sweetie."

"Oh, no problem! Thanks for calling." Kim looked at the clock. 3:12pm.

She was nibbling on a potato when she heard a banging on the door at 3:23.

"I didn't expect you to be first." She blinked at Dan Fielding, leaning on the doorframe.

"I would've expected a robber to be first, with the low level of security it takes to get into this building." he commented before making his way inside.

"Did you take the subway _drunk_?" she asked incredulously after getting a whiff of the air behind him.

"I would never." he spun around. "I took a cab drunk."

"And you didn't bring anything."

"I brought this bottle of whiskey."

"That you broke open already!"

"Still probably better than whatever you managed to buy." he looked disdainfully over at the three bottles of wine.

"Okay hold it right there, I understand why you might not pick up right where we left off, but why are you so _mean_ to me?"

He gave her a 'come on' look before continuing. "If you hadn't found me here, you could've avoided it."

"Seriously? I can't believe you think that. I did NOT track you down, Reinhold."

"Is this a bad time?"

Kim spun around to the door and plastered on a smile.

"Mac! No, I'm sorry, just asking Dan if he wanted anything... to eat."

"Sounds like you're really excited about the food."

She laughed. "This must be Quon Li! Nice to meet you." She shook the Korean woman's hand.

"I brought a Korean Barbecue!" she said, handing Kim what looked like a plate of brown sauce with some meat in it.

"Wow, thank you! That's so nice." She put it on the table as Mac dropped a pack of beers on the table. "So, how'd you two meet?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dan plop down by the window.

Mac and Quon Li shared a friendly laugh and he began. "Well, it's funny actually..."

About ten minutes later, there was a knocking on the door and the rest of the courthouse party showed up. Soon, everyone had full plates and cups and were chatting happily while 'Rocky' played on the television.

They talked about the food, about cases- it was easy talking with them, and the alcohol didn't hurt, Kim thought.

"Cute place." Christine first said when she got there.

"Kim, I've got to get you some paintings in here or something." she said after three and a half glasses of merlot.

"I would love that!" Kim said, not feeling awkward at all with her new... friends, she guessed.

"Why don't we go shopping one day next week? Roz, Quon Li, you're welcome to it."

After a lull fell on the girl talk, Harry raised his plastic cup.

"Kim- you're new, and we're glad to have you in the family. Thanks for the shindig!"

They toasted and she thanked everyone, definitely buzzed now.

Harry continued, "Now, why don't you finally tell us about yourself? We've had to wait to hear from you for a while."

Kim shifted in her seat with a quick glance in the direction of a quieter Dan.

"Uh, well, I don't know."

"Come on, now! Why keep us hanging? Did you go to school?"

"Uh, no, actually, I didn't go to college anywhere."

"Me neither!" Bull said happily.

She put her hand behind her head. "Well, I didn't even finish high school, really. I left... when I was fifteen." She looked at each person in turn so that when she finished on Dan, it didn't seem out of place. He was looking at his drink, bored. "I've been doing a few things and I've moved around a lot."

"Like where?"

"Guys, I'm really not that interesting-"

"No, Kimmy, tell us." Dan piped up. "You can't keep people's interest forever."

"Thank you." she said, raising her eyebrows.

"I'm an actress." she announced, suddenly more tense. Dan's head snapped up at the new information. "Before this, I lived in Los Angeles for a while. I felt like a change of scenery and luckily my agency had an office in New York."

"Wow, an actress," Bull said, "so what are you doing working the night shift in a court room?" Everyone else looked slightly more awkward at Bull's simplicity but Kim smiled knowingly.

"Don't worry about it, guys. I'm an actress, Bull, but it's a bit too unstable. I'm working at the night court to pay rent, so I can have auditions during the day."

"Well let us know if you're in anything!" Harry said excitedly, before adding, "And if you ever need any magicians..." He shrugged and pulled a complete, fanned out deck of cards out of his sleeves.

"What kinds of things have you done?" Christine asked.

"Oh, commercials mostly, some stand-in work, I've been in a few plays in the LA theatre district and around-"

"-so you're an 'actress', great, what else have you been doing, Kimby?" Dan cut in with sarcastic mirth. "You ever run back to the bayou down in ole Louisiana?"

"No, Dan, I haven't been back."

"No, I mean why would you? Not like there's anyone to care about down there."

Kim grew red as she felt everyone get awkward again. So much for a great party host. "Are you okay? Did you drink too much?"

"Don't worry about me, sweetheart."

It was quiet.

"Say, have you two met before?" Bull asked, the lightbulb above his head flickering and then turning on.

"Looks that way, Bull." Harry commented.

"Listen guys," Kim shook her head, cutting through and acknowledging the awkward air, "yes, this is a weird coincidence and yes, it's pretty awkward. Almost mind-bogglingly so. But who cares? It happens. But I'm flattered you want to learn about me, so basically.. here goes. I moved from Queens to a small town in Louisiana when I was young. When I was fifteen, I decided to leave. I worked odd jobs through Tennessee all the way to Dallas for a bit. I saved money to buy myself a ticket to London, my mother had a cousin who put me up while I found a job. I had enough money for school but I didn't want to go back to their equivalency of high school, so I auditioned for and got into drama school. I worked and went there for five years, then I lived with some artists and did the whole following concerts, posing for paintings, doing experimental theatre through England. Then I tried moving to Italy but missed English, so I moved to LA to try to get a US acting career. After a few years there, I realized that what I was missing most was my home in New York. And now I'm here."

"You've really traveled." Mac commented, the awkwardness all but forgotten as everyone got absorbed in her story.

Kim shrugged and nodded. "Hey, so have you. I've just been trying to find a place that works."

"What do you mean, 'works'?" Harry asked.

Kim looked at her feet. "Well, you know. Somewhere I'm not bored of, someone I can talk the whole day with." Her eyes darted sheepishly to the drunk lawyer in the corner after she remembered he was there. "I've just been trying to find somewhere I can be happy day to day."

"Then let's hope we can help you find it." Harry raised the cup again and everyone drank.

"I'm off." Dan announced after finishing his umpteenth drink.

"You sure you can get home like that?" Roz asked.

"Home? No. Into the arms of a generous-bosomed cocktail waitress? Most definitely. I've got to find my own happiness too, don't I?" he cocked an unsteady eyebrow.

Kim knew she should keep him there to keep him out of potential harm. She also knew that that would make him say who knows what else. Things that they should talk about in private, if ever again. She picked at some chocolate cake.

"Thanks for coming." she said coolly.

He shook hands with Mac and Bull, hugged Harry, gave both Roz and Christine a kiss on the cheek, and left.

"Hope he gets back okay." Christine said.

"He will." Harry assured.

Christine turned her attention to Kim for a question she assumed would be coming.

"So you knew Dan growing up, huh?"

"Uh, yeah, I did."

"Aren't you younger than him?"

"Yeah, he's a little over five years older than I am. But we were neighbors."

"What was he like?"

"I dunno. Pretty different, he definitely wasn't as comfortable with himself before he slimmed down."

"Dan was _fat_?"

"No, not fat per se, just on the chubby side. He never really liked the place or the people around. Neither of us had much money so we were definitely on the other side of things." She shook her head. "I dunno, I don't really remember much though. We weren't close." she lied.

The conversation gradually turned to stories of what happened to them in the past, and Kim listened intently to her new friends.


	4. Backwater Bayou

"Kim, can I offer you a ride home? The snow must be bad, I'm guessing the subway isn't great right now." Christine offered at the end of Tuesday night.

"Yeah, actually that'd be great. Let me get my coat."

* * *

"Dan, do you have some time? Could you come to my office?"

"I suppose I could do that, your Honor." He grabbed his briefcase and his coat and walked briskly out of the courtroom, accidentally whipping the stenographer in the leg but not stopping to apologize. Hopefully if he kept this up, she'd transfer somewhere else before he tore his hair out.

"So I should probably cut right down to the chase."

"Gee, Harry, that'd be a first for you."

"I wanted to ask you about Kim, Dan."

"Oh, no, don't you start-"

"-after the lovely picture you were at the party she was kind enough to throw us, I had to at least try and pry."

"What? What is it that you want to know? That I found her on my farm at night, a little kid crying and lost, and after that she wouldn't leave me alone? That it turned out she lived right next to me? How I was stuck with her following me around and somewhere became friends because we both hated living where we were? Or how she just up and left without telling anyone one day?"

Harry stared, wide-eyed. "Yeah, somewhere in the middle of that. Buy you a drink?"

"Fine."

* * *

"You did know Dan well, didn't you?"

Kim cringed, the seatbelt holding her back some. "Wow, no cushion there, huh?"

"Sorry," Christine laughed, "but Harry and I were just wondering ever since your party. It seemed like you knew each other. What'd he call you?"

"Kimby, yeah." She said thoughtfully. "There was a kid who had a crush on me who walked home from school with me sometimes. He always had a stuffy nose and tried to say 'Kimmy' but that's how it came out. Dan thought it was funny so he called me that. I called him 'Elmo' when he told me his full name. Elmore, Elmo. You know, once, some guys his year heard me call him that and we were older, when Sesame Street came out and they didn't let him live it down. He got so mad at me for that." Kim smiled, before thinking again. "I'm sorry, that came out of nowhere. I haven't talked about my time there in a while."

"No, no," Christine said quickly, "it's interesting, really, Dan as a kid. He doesn't talk about it. His parents came up to visit once, and his sister, but that's it. So, you were close?"

* * *

"She moved down to live with her dad when her mom died. He wasn't a bad guy, just didn't know how to raise kids, so he left her on her own a lot. He drank. Didn't hit her, but just... was gone. Before high school, the neighborhood kids more or less hung out together. She always bragged about being from New York, and I ate it up because I wanted to go to a city.

I would up basically babysitting her for the next year. I didn't hang out with much of anyone during my puberty years. Didn't really fit anywhere. I acted like I hated it and sometimes she was a handful, but it was fun, I suppose."

"Hey, that's interesting. Funny how she's here now."

"Yeah. Buy me another drink and you'll bust a gut laughing." Dan swished the last of his first and knocked it back. He continued, reminiscing now.

"When I was in high school, she just started the whole puberty thing. My own sister wasn't born till I was eighteen, so she was the closest thing. She was making friends with more girls, but had problems with a lot more because we were on the foul redneck side of the fence. I liked her better then, though. We talked about more. She started understanding the birds and the bees shit, so we talked about it. She fought with her dad more and more, so she'd stay over when my folks went to sleep. I helped her not make crap decisions, she pushed me to try and fit in with people around me instead of disdaining them. She suggested I join the debate team sophomore year, so I did. By senior year I was captain, and I had my share of friends. She went to every single one of the meets. People thought we were a weird pair, but when your next door neighbors are siblings with three kids, weird isn't much."

* * *

"...I remember once, his senior year of high school, when he had started to slim down. He had his intellectual friends, but wasn't great with girls yet. I guess he helped me mature. I skipped a grade when I was young so I ended up in eighth when he was a senior, but we talked like people. We were sitting on the fence between my field and his farm, and I asked if he was excited to go to college. He said he was, and that I should go too, whatever it took. I told him I would. He became a hell of a talker, so he was going in for pre-law. I told him he was my best friend, but I realized then that I felt more than that. But back then the age gap seemed huge. He put his arm around my shoulders and said 'keep in touch, Kimby'. I told him I'd write if he wrote two letters back for every one because he'd probably have more new news.

I told him that I wanted us to move to New York together when he finished college so we could make our way into the big time. I remember he just looked at me and went, 'after _you_ finish college'."

* * *

"So I started my first year of college- didn't get away from the rednecks, but at least these were slightly more cultured. Kim and I didn't talk very much. When I came back for Christmas break, I found her standing on my doorstep with a mutt at her feet. She hugged me, and then took me to meet my new baby sister who she'd been babysitting for my parents for free. I remember when she took off her jacket by the fire, I really noticed that she'd... grown, while I was gone."

"Grown... taller?"

Dan side-eyed Harry and ignored his comment. "I couldn't shake the feeling off. I spent time with her, but I felt differently. Of course, I had my first two girlfriends at the time-"

"-you managed to have two girlfriends back to back in the time you were there?"

"I saved time and dated them at the same time. Anyway, now she was the one waiting for my stories, especially college. She was growing restless at home. Her dad was getting meaner and poorer. She didn't know if she'd be able to afford college. She wanted to get out as badly as I did.

While I was in school I was busy becoming the urbane gentleman you see before you. Then I really made friends. Then people liked me. But when I was with her, I couldn't act that way, and it was relaxing to just be... I don't know, I guess myself. So I started talking to her less, and soon I was Dan Fielding, smartest in my class, most charming by junior year. I was at a party just about to break the keg open when I got a call from her. She was at a payphone, crying. She had a fight with her dad, left the house, hitchhiked to a gas station somewhere. It was almost midnight, and they were closing. I talked to the guys there, borrowed a buddy's car, and went to get her.

It was pouring when I got there. She was standing there, dripping and tearing and the whole show. I got her in the car and asked her what the hell she was thinking, the dumb kid. 'I'm tired of this place', she said, 'I'm goddamn tired of this place, there's nothing here for me, I need to get out'. Well, she was preaching to the choir. I told her she had to be more responsible about it and I was taking her home. She begged me not to, telling me that her dad had thrown a lamp at her when she left. She was scared till he sobered up. I saw by the light of the moon that her eyes were bloodshot. She had found reefer somewhere. I yelled at her and took her back to the frat house I was at. I gave her a blanket and brought her upstairs where it was quiet. She promised she wouldn't smoke again. She was beautiful, actually, with her wet and frizzing hair. Her eyes were so sad, looking to me for help. I told her more college stories until she got tired and fell asleep. She was a junior, it wouldn't be long. I crashed on the couch."

* * *

"...he made me breakfast in the morning. I walked downstairs in dry clothes- his exercise shorts and one of his school sweaters. He turned around and his face! It was so funny. His eyes bulged and he went, 'Kimby! What are you doing dressed like that?! This is a house full of _men_!' But the other boys there were nice. I called him 'Elmo' in front of them and he got annoyed at that but they loved it. One of them made a pass at me but Dan told him off and we got into an argument. I told him that I wasn't a kid he could boss around, he said that when I found him in the middle of a rainy country night, I could make my own rules.

I felt better in the morning, so he drove me home. It was almost a two hour ride, and he was pretty quiet. He finally told me that I couldn't go doing things like that again. I tried to tell him that I was saving money to leave, that I was just getting the right moment, but then he wouldn't let me talk. He said how things were different right now and I couldn't just go find him whenever I pleased. He told me I could've just gone to my boyfriend, I told him I would rather be with him. By this point, we were outside my house.

* * *

"...we parked and I looked at her. Her hair was in a ponytail and she was still wearing my sweater. She was definitely not a kid anymore. I could've made a move right then, but I didn't. I knew she wasn't one of the sorority girls partying around me, no matter how badly she wanted to be. I knew from the way she was looking at me that she wanted me to. I kissed her on the cheek and she grabbed my face. Told me she wanted to go New York together soon. She was going back and she wanted me to go with her. She told me she really liked me.

I pushed her away, believe it or not. I told her she should get out of the car, she should be patient, and that we shouldn't talk for a while. I was scared, I guess. I didn't know how I felt, but I knew I wasn't ready to settle down with anyone in the backwater bayou. I was going to go places, have a life ahead of me. I thought she'd stay there until I was ready. I asked her to wait- live life, but wait- and she said she would.

I couldn't get her off my mind after that. I thought about all the times we had together, how I just felt like myself. And she knew that. And she liked me. By the time I started to apply to law schools, I applied to some in New York and New Jersey. She was unhappy and wanted to get out, I felt bad making her wait, but I knew I wanted to go with her. She could've gone to school up here. I realized she was right and we would've figured it out. I wanted to trust her. I drove back home one weekend in the summer, about three months later to tell her my plan. I was excited to tell her everything and wanted to surprise her."

* * *

"A month afterwards, my dad died. I didn't want the farm, my closest living relatives were my grandparents all the way in Florida. I had saved enough money but I needed more. I just got a Greyhound ticket to Nashville and never told anyone a thing. Then I decided on London, and everything else happened. Dan, he was the last person I expect to see. But I guess it makes sense."

Christine had been driving slow, listening intently the entire time. They had been parked outside for some time now. She never would have pegged Dan for that, but she felt like she could understand him more.

"And do you still feel...?"

"No, I don't think so. I don't know. I've just always felt bad for not telling him I was leaving. I could have tried harder that day, but I was scared to. I guess he remembers, but I wish he didn't hate me. I mean, he told me we should stop talking. I never understood why."

"Well... I think you two just need to talk."

* * *

"Boy, Dan, I didn't know any of that." Harry commented. "That's the longest you've talked about your childhood ever."

"Yeah, well." he slurred.

"But... don't you think you're being unreasonable?"

"Not at all."

"Hear me out- you told her you didn't want to talk now and that things were different, but did you tell her how you felt?"

"No."

"So how do you know she knew? To her, you were just acting different. You told her to wait but not what to wait for."

"A promise is a promise."

"You've broken promises too, Dan."

"Well, duh, but not like..."

"...not like where you put your heart on the line."

Dan shrugged.

"Well, you should talk about it."

"Nothing to talk about."

"If you still love her-"

"-Harry. Please."

"Then why're you acting like this?"

Dan blinked and looked at him. "Because, you see me. I'm perfectly content with what I've got. And she had to come muck it up and remind me of where I came from. And of broken promises. And why I can't give to anyone. Because they take your kindness and spit it back up at you."

Both Harry and Christine took mental notes. They would have to figure out what they'd do next.


	5. Shit Happens

Things stayed the same over the next week or so. Kim sat at lunch with her coworkers. That included Dan, who sat at the furthest possible edge and couldn't be bothered to give a single thought to her existence. She was just starting to wrap her head around the idea of him as such a womanizer. If he was anything like that at school, he kept it quiet.

But at the same time, the type of women he went for couldn't be found in Louisiana. Dress size zero, brain cell count zero, glittery girls in their 20s would prance in at the end of (and occasionally, during) sessions, announcing their arrival from down the hall with calls of "Danny boy!" nearly cracking the glass. He would smile wide and talk to them in baby talk before sauntering out with his arm around their waists. She saw quickly that it made him the butt of most of the group's jokes.

"Are they all like that?" she asked Roz on the Saturday afternoon that they and Christine went to Sears to pick up some apartment decorations.

"No," she answered, "some of them he doesn't pay."

"Wow." was all Kim answered, raising her eyebrows and examining a little painting of a sailboat.

"Have you guys had any conversations since you started work?" Christine asked.

"Not a one. The way he acts, it's like he's the school bully. It's immature."

"Yeah, I've noticed that too. He's pretty harsh."

"You want me to teach him some manners?" Roz offered.

Kim laughed, putting her hand on her arm. "No, thanks. Dan's always been that way- if he can't get his way, he'll be pushy and rude until he does. Besides, I guess he has a right to hate me."

"Oh, Kim, for what happened years ago between you two? Maybe you just need to talk." Christine smiled hopefully.

"He knocks my table at least twice a week. He showed up to my apartment _drunk_. He won't want to talk."

"You won't find out 'til you try." Christine stood in front of the cart and raised her eyebrows.

"Okay. I know what you're trying to do, and thank you, it's nice. But I'm not a charity case. Dan will not want to talk to me, and with the way he acts I don't want to try. We were friends once and by some stupid coincidence, we're coworkers. I'm in this job because it makes money and it lets me go on auditions and work with my theatre group during the day and on weekends. That's what really matters."

"But would you? If he tried, would you?"

"I guess so, I don't know, oh gosh, look at that plate set!" Kim tightened her grip on the cart and pushed forward, flustered.

"Real smooth there, Cupid." Roz commented as they followed her, a few yards behind.

"I can't help it. You should've heard the story she told me, Roz. This is like something out of a novel."

"All I can say is we'll never go for the same book at the library." Roz and Christine followed Kim down the aisle.

* * *

Dan walked down the hall, straightening his linen tie. There was no better way to keep the Monday blues away than a nice, tailored suit. He stopped in front of a dark window and ran a hand through his hair.

"You've got it, baby." he cooed to himself. He winked at a passing broad, who rolled her eyes and muttered 'jerk'. He buried it in the mental pile of other insults that he used to assert his masculinity.

He flipped through the file in his hand as he walked- a man, aged 42, held over for arraignment for public intoxication. He wanted Harry to go over the case and see if he'd allow a plea deal between the people of New York and the defendant. True, usually Dan liked to keep his conviction rate high, but the guy was a single father with a kid at home. He told Christine that it was the only way to deal with a dumb drunk, but the guy mumbling about how he didn't have the money to pay a sitter overnight finally got to him in the grating, annoying way that only sappy shit like that could. If he plead guilty and did community service, he could go home to his kid.

"Your Honor," he began, his nose in the file and his feet walking into the room, "I was just wondering if you could check out this case file-"

"-nope."

That voice. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the city-bayou girl. Her pose was identical to his old one, and he was almost insulted that she didn't even bother to look up from her manila file folder when he walked in. Except if his ego let him get insulted, he would be in pieces by now.

"Where's Harry." he said more than asked curtly, slamming his folder impatiently.

"I dunno, the cafeteria I think."

"No, he isn't."

"Well then I don't know, maybe he stepped out."

"You're not supposed to be in here."

"Cool it, are you gonna tattle on me?"

"I could."

"Well that wouldn't look great on you since he told me I could practice in here."

"Right, typing must be so hard."

"Airhead, I'm working on a monologue." She put down her papers with a sigh. "Do you realize that this was the longest we've talked in years, and we're arguing?"

"Yeah, well, it won't go on much longer."

"Safety drill, lock all doors now! This is a federally mandated safety drill for all government employees!" Dan and Kim looked at each other for a split second before he turned on his heel and marched back towards the door. He opened them both and was met with a security guard's hand on his chest.

"What's going on here?" Dan demanded.

"Safety drill, Mr. Fielding. Please get back inside and lock the door."

"I didn't hear anything about a safety drill."

"It was announced at the end of last week."

End of last week... it must've been when he left early to go on the date with the acrobat from the visiting circus. Just his luck.

"Well then let me get somewhere safe."

"Mr. Fielding, please lock the door."

"Not this one."

"You'll be fined if you don't comply. I'm sorry, that's the rules."

"How much?"

"Three hundred dollars."

" _What?!"_ This wasn't safety, this was robbery.

The guard used Dan's outraged silence to slam the doors in his face. He turned around slowly, his shoulders hunched. Kim stared at him with an eyebrow cocked.

"They _did_ announce it-"

"-I know they announced it."


	6. The Fight

The clock ticked for hours, but somehow, when Dan looked, only five minutes had passed. He sat cross-legged on Harry's couch, staring at anything, rethinking his karma-is-a-hoot theory. _She_ sat in the chair, whispering her lines to herself.

"Can you read in your head, please?" he finally asked.

"I have to rehearse!"

"I doubt you're playing the part of a chanting monk, so whispering won't help you act and it won't help me keep my sanity, so you might as well be quiet."

"I was perfectly fine reading them out loud until _you_ got in here."

"Like it was my dream to be."

She exhaled audibly and slammed her folder on the desk. "How long do these normally last?"

"Who knows."

"Well have you gone through them before?"

"Once or twice a year."

"Do you hate me?"

"...what?" He turned his head sharply towards her. Kim was reclining in the chair, looking at him as if she'd just asked the weather.

"I'm pretty sure you hate me."

"Well I'm pretty sure I don't have to like you."

"Rein-"

"-don't you dare."

"Dan. I just... I understand, but I really wish you didn't."

"Do you do this all the time? Just travel around the country and force yourself into the lives of people who don't need you anymore?"

"Dan, I just-" she stopped suddenly, cocking her head at him.

"What? You just what?"

"Anymore?"

"What?"

"I never thought you needed me. Liked me enough to keep me around and feel responsible for me but 'needed' never came to mind."

"It must be easy living in your own little world all the time."

"You should know."

"Excuse me?" Dan stood and looked down at her, his blood boiling now.

"Come on. You parade girls around with names that sound like something out of a toddler's picture book, 'Candy', 'Bambi', 'Cookie'. You act like such a jerk all the time just because you learned how to speak without a cajun accent."

"Oh please."

"I didn't come here on purpose just for you. And I don't want to fight with you. I just don't want to be bullied at work and called out on things that happened in the past."

"So transfer."

Kim looked down for a moment and then back up with her eyebrows furrowed. Dan watched her put two and two together and realize what he'd been doing.

"So that's why you've been going out of your way to be mean? You want me gone?"

When he just shrugged in response, she continued. "I'm not leaving, Rein. Not on your account, at least. This job fits my schedule and everyone _else_ has been really nice to me. You'll have to deal with me being here like an adult."

"Or what?"

"Or... or... I'll tell Harry."

He just stared. The easy way out seemed to be the only thing she ever knew. So did he admittedly, but at least he was aware of it and used it to his advantage. She was thirty and still a stupid kid.

"Sure, fine," Dan said, taking care to make his voice as acidic as humanly possible, "you go ahead and tell Harry that big mean Dan is bothering you, you can have everything the way you want, and then one day when you don't show up for work I can let everyone know that you up and left because you felt like it and didn't feel like it was worth your time to let them know."

"What do you WANT from me, asshole?" she snapped. "My dad died and you expected me to just hang around and wait for you to maybe come back from school while living by myself in a shithole town?!"

Now this was getting annoying. Dan walked up to her until they were separated by Harry's desk. "Well now I don't expect a thing. I thought human decency was the way to go but it's so much easier just running away from your problems, isn't it? You don't need to give to other people. You save your own skin and don't give a rat's ass about anyone else. When I do it, I'm a jerk, right? When it's you, it's forgive and forget. That's not how the world works, sweetheart."

"I did NOT run away from my problems! You don't even understand!"

"Don't worry, I understand."

"You can't use me moving away as a reason to be a sleaze, that's so childish."

"Don't flatter yourself, you aren't that important."

"Are you fucking-"

"-Hey, guys..."

Both of their heads snapped towards the door at the same time. Oh great, Dan thought. The whole circus.

"Hi!" Kim shouted too loud and too excitedly to be casual.

Harry, Christine, Mac, Bull, and Roz slowly and awkwardly filed into the office.

Dan scratched the back of his head. "So is that stupid drill over?"

Christine smiled and cleared her throat. "Yeah, it ended a couple of minutes ago. I guess they didn't let you guys know yet..."

"Or they were to scared to come into the battle dome." Roz supplanted in her usual way.

"Well... thanks for letting me use your office, Judge. I really appreciate it." Kim said, packing up her things.

"Don't mention it, Kim. Back in the courtroom soon, Mac?"

"Yes, your honor. I've got the cases here."

"Great. Let's get this show on the road."

Roz cocked an eyebrow at Kim. "Only if this show's over."

Kim laughed uncomfortably. She and Dan exchanged glares before everyone filed out of the room.


	7. Sorry

Kim checked her watch. She had exactly half an hour to get to work. Considering it was the start of rush hour, she knew she had to hurry if she was going to avoid the mess that was the 1 train.

"Hey. It was great meeting you, I'm excited that we'll be working together."

She looked up with an absent smile. "Oh, thank you! I'm excited to be here."

"So... would you want to get together and rehearse monologues? I mean, there's an audition in a couple of weeks, it can't hurt."

Kim did a double take and actually looked at the guy talking to her. Blonde waves, gray eyes, aquiline nose- he looked like he walked out of a stock photo that you'd see on a new picture frame. Hell, they were at a theatre company meeting. He very well might have.

"Oh, yeah, sure."

"Great, over coffee?"

"Sounds good but I have to get to work right now. Can I give you my number and you call me tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

She finished scribbling the phone number on a piece of loose leaf. "You're Jake, right? Your scene was amazing. Have you ever actually done 'Glass Menagerie'?"

He ran a hand through his hair and looked down with an actor smile. "I did, as a matter of fact. I played Tom at a playhouse in Boston about a year ago. So what's your story?"

"My story is that I'll be late for work if I don't leave this second. It was great meeting you, talk soon!" With a sheepish shrug, Kim grabbed the last of her stuff and walked quickly out the door.

She ran into the courtroom just as the lawyers were organizing their papers. She jumped into her seat with a huff and clumsily pushed papers into the typewriter.

Dan didn't even look her way anymore. Ever since the incident at the beginning of the week, they ignored each other completely. Nobody had said anything to either of them, as far as she knew. But at least now Christine and Harry didn't push. They knew how deep the trench between the two of them ran. Kim thought about it every so often and what he said. He really hated her, and the weird part was that instead of making her angrier, it just made her sad. They were best friends and she made him hurt that much. Her pride was struggling with the fact that he didn't treat her great either, but then again, it was a long time since she'd thought of someone besides herself, if she was being honest.

"You hit traffic?" Christine asked absentmindedly.

"No," Kim exhaled with a grin, "I got a date." Still nothing between them.

Christine looked up. "Really? Where? Just now?"

"At my theatre group! I'll tell you during lunch."

* * *

"Anyone want to grab a drink?" Kim asked the room after session ended.

"Quon Li wants me home for some kind of a traditional Vietnamese dinner."

"I've got an early morning."

"I wanna catch the late night all-star fight on pay per view."

Those were just some of the answers people gave. Dan didn't say anything at all.

"I'm free." Harry offered.

"Great, guess it's just you and I then." And so they wound up in the group's usual bar, each with a cold pint.

"You're not with Christine, are you?" Kim asked during a lull in conversation, absentmindedly stirring her straw.

It surprised her that Harry seemed caught off-guard. "Me? Christine Sullivan? Gosh, no. Why do you ask?"

Kim shrugged. "I dunno. I guess you two just seemed to have chemistry."

"Well, she is a good friend."

"Got it."

"...while we're on the subject of relationships-"

"-no."

"You seriously didn't expect me to try and find out-"

"-I hoped you wouldn't-"

"-I talked to Dan."

She stared, trying to sound cool. "Oh? About... the drill?"

"No, about Louisiana."

"He actually _talked_ about his childhood?"

"Once he got fairly drunk."

"Oh, that figures." She nodded absentmindedly and rubbed the back of her neck during a beat of silence. "Sooo what did he say?"

"You mean about you?"

"Well, not just me, I mean, did he even talk about me? Would he?"

"You know he did."

"I don't know, I guess, it was so long ago."

"He really cares about you."

"No he doesn't. That I know."

"How?"

"He ignores me. He ignored me since the day I got here, when he isn't being a jackass."

"Well that doesn't mean that someone doesn't care. If anything, that sounds like someone who cares a whole lot."

"Harry, it's... it's such a long story, it was years ago. I don't need you guys worrying about my personal life."

"And I don't need my prosecutor and my stenographer hollering at each other every time they're alone in a room together."

"Is this why you agreed to getting a drink with me?"

"No, I enjoy spending time with you. But I also consider you a friend now, and I care about my friends."

Kim smiled at him and sipped her beer. "I do wish I could apologize, sometimes."

"Why don't you?"

"Because it wouldn't do any good. What would it change?"

"It'd make you feel better, for starters."

"A little, but he has a hell of a lot to apologize for, too."

"Someone has to start something."

"Why me?!"

"Because you know he won't."

"And how do you know I will?"

"You strike me as a little more mature."

"So that means that my ass has to go on the line? Just because he's an idiot? I know he's an idiot, I've known it forever."

"That isn't what I'm saying-"

"-Judge, I appreciate what you, and I feel like Christine, are trying to do. It's nice. Great. But I've been in control of my own life ever since I can remember. And I intend it to stay that way. I'm not apologizing to a selfish jerk just because I stood up for myself and put myself first. I'm going home." With that, she dropped money on the bar, swung on her purse, and walked out of the bar before the regret from her outburst hit her.

It ended up hitting her right when she got to her door.

* * *

Two knocks.

"Come in."

Kim took a long inhale and pushed open her boss's door.

"Judge Stone." She started.

"Miss Jenkins." he returned with an incredible poker face.

She looked at the ground sheepishly for a second before looking back up at him, her head still bowed. "I realized we never finished having our drinks." Stepping forward towards his desk, Kim plopped a six pack in a black bag down. "Also, I'm sorry I stormed out like that. It wasn't cool at all."

A tense beat was followed by Harry's face breaking into a kind smile. "I understand. Thanks." He picked up a bottle and inspected the label. "We can break a couple of these open after session."

"Great!"

"Oh, and Miss Jenkins- have you thought about what I said?"

Kim rubbed her arm. "I guess I could apologize for some of the things I said during the drill... and before."

"I'm proud of you, Kim. That's a big thing to do."

"Yeah, well... I know." she shrugged with false humility.

And that was how Kimberly Jenkins found herself waiting in the cold that night at one in the morning right outside of the courthouse parking lot.

"Nighty night, Danny boy." she heard from the courthouse steps. She rolled her eyes. Of course."

"Sure we can't take the night to your place?" Dan asked, snuggling the girl close.

"I told you baby, not more that twice in one night! I ain't that kind of girl."

Ugh.

"Right, I forgot. You're just such a quality girl, I'm not used to it." his voice was honeyed enough to glaze over the lie. He was smooth, she had to give Dan that. One last kiss and he wrapped his coat around him, hurrying down the steps.

"Dan." Kim called.

He kept back, evidently having no idea that someone else was there with him. "Jesus Christ, what the hell is your problem?" he called. He stepped further into the light and saw who it was that called his name. He straightened up. "Oh. Great."

She had no idea how to start. Jump right in?

"I just... I'm sorry."

A beat of silence. He stared at her with guarded disdain.

Kim spoke up again. "That's it. That's all I wanted to say. I'm sorry."

She stared at him openly and sincerely. She wasn't quite sure what she meant by it, but she hoped he would understand. Somehow.

A sharp wind cut through the silence. Kim shivered in her trench coat. Dan pulled his around himself tighter, rubbing his jaw against his scarf.

He looked at her so strangely. His eyes traveled up and down a few times, now less disdain and more confusion. But his guard was still way up, she felt it.

Kim shrugged.

Dan turned and kept walking towards his car. She stood and watched him go, marveling at the weight that she didn't even know was on her shoulders all this time.

He was halfway to his car before Dan turned back. He looked up at the dark night sky and back at her. The years between them disappeared and Kim felt like she knew what question was sitting on the tip of his tongue, a question she knew he would be fighting with all his logical mind. That didn't surprise her, however. What surprised Kim was that she completely understood.

"I'm gonna go down to the subway. See you."

Kim walked into the night and didn't look back.


	8. Colleagues

The air was filled with the sounds of beeping cars, ruffling plastic bags, and people going through their days. A brunette and a blonde man walked out of a Chinatown shop just as the first snow began flurrying.

"Sorry again about the stove, I swear I make the best pancakes when the gas isn't freaking out." Kim said.

"Hey, what's living in New York without a two dollar dumpling breakfast once in a while?" Jake asked.

"So you've got an audition today?"

"Yup, for a Coke commercial. My agent says I should wear surfer gear for it- I've got a Hawaiian shirt, so I hope that's fine."

"It probably is. Plus the fact that you're blonde and tan in the middle of winter helps. How long were you here before you found an agent?"

"About eight months I think. I met her at a showcase of my last theatre company, actually."

"That's so awesome. God, I need to find an agent, but there's so many roads that just lead to dead ends."

"Yeah, it's tough out in the talent ocean but just keep swimming through. If you ever need any tips, you know where to find me."

"Talent ocean?" Kim giggled.

Jake looked at her blankly. "Something wrong with that?"

Realizing he wasn't kidding, she sobered up and tried to backpedal. "Oh I just mean, I haven't heard that used before."

In a serious context anyway, she added mentally.

"It's true babe, it's vast and deep so you gotta learn how to sail it."

"Got it." Kim nodded, holding off judgement until at least the fourth or fifth date. "Well break a leg today. Wanna get together and practice for the audition this weekend?"

"Sounds great, just give me a ring." He bent his head down and kissed her before walking off in the opposite direction.

"What a great ass." Kim muttered to herself, watching him walk away before walking two doors down back to her apartment. She called Christine to tell her that she had slept with him before even taking off her jacket.

* * *

Dan sat at the prosecutor's desk with his arms folded behind his head. Christine sat across, looking at photos and cooing all the while.

"What've you got there, Christine?" Bull asked her.

She looked up, smiling. "Just a few pictures my sister sent me of my new nephew." Bull crossed to her and loomed over her shoulder.

"Hey, those are awfully cute." he said.

"I know," Christine said while holding them to her chest, "I just adore babies."

"Wanna go make one now?" Dan quipped.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Not to save your life."

"Don't test me." he answered. Did he think that she'd eventually cave to his pick up lines? Probably not. Would that stop him from laying them on every day? _Absolutely_ not.

Then _she_ speed-walked into the courtroom and dropped her things at her desk.

"Spending time with Jake again?" Christine asked. She and Dan still didn't talk, but he knew from hearing her (constantly, especially with Christine and Roz) that she started seeing some actor bozo a week ago. If there was one group in this city that Dan couldn't stand, it was that artsy-farsty, holier-than-thou, "starving artist" self-righteous types. Why she was trying to fit in with them was beyond him. It was the sorority girls all over again.

Good thing he couldn't care less.

"All rise, New York criminal court Part 2- Judge Harold Stone presiding."

Dan rose, like he did every day, and sat back down when Harry got to the bench. He waded through the cases for a few hours before one sounded more familiar than the rest.

"People of New York versus John Keller, for the violations of public intoxication, reckless abandonment... and child abuse."

Dan read the case file, but that guy seemed familiar from elsewhere. A heavy tone fell over the courtroom as the weight of the charge came down on all of them. He watched Kim stiffen out of the corner of his eye.

The guy walked in- or dragged, by Roz- and it hit him. It was the guy he let off easy for public drunkenness so he could get back to his kid weeks ago.

"How do you plead?" Harry asked with rare contempt in his eyes.

"Not guilty." Keller said, puffing out his chest.

Dan stood beside the man, not sure if he was angrier at him or at himself.

"Your Honor, a woman in the apartment next door called 911 when she heard the defendant's daughter crying for help. He was arrested on the scene, drunk, and the girl was taken by child services." he recited. He glanced to the side to see Kim, typing out every word being said. She was slamming her fingers down on the keys harder than necessary and staring at the man with open hostility.

"Does the defense have anything to say?" Harry asked.

Christine came forward with any reluctance her professionalism would allow. "Mr. Keller claims that he came home after a few drinks when the baby sitter had to leave early. He tried to put his daughter to bed and she refused, and there were raised voices."

"Were you intoxicated, Mr. Keller?" Harry asked.

"I just had a couple'a drinks after work. Nothing major."

"And where does the abuse come in?"

Dan kept a poker face over his disgust. He opened the folder. "The police found the child crying in the bathroom with fresh abrasions and bruises."

"She was throwing a damn tantrum," Keller protested, "she threw herself on the ground and started bangin' on the walls."

As if on a cue, the side door opened. All attention turned to a kindly woman in a suit leading a young girl into the courtroom. One look at her threw all doubt out the window. Her long brown hair fell over her face but did little to obscure the welts on the side of her face and the swelling under her eye. One of her arms was bruised as if someone had a vice grip on it for hours. She looked around in fear that caught Dan harder than he thought it would.

"This is no place for a kid." Kim said suddenly.

"Pardon, Miss Jenkins?" Harry asked impatiently.

"I- nothing. I'm sorry, your Honor." she shrunk back quickly, staring hard at her paper and biting her bottom lip. Dan knew that look.

"Mr. Keller you will be held over for arraignment and sentencing." Harry banged the gavel and Bull and Roz walked over, grim faced.

"What about my kid?" the drunk asked.

"She'll be brought to child services." He answered more gently, aware of the girl's presence.

"Daddy, what's gonna happen? I want to go home." the kid said, beginning to cry.

"Daddy ain't coming home. These guys wanna take Daddy away." Keller answered harshly.

The girl started crying and had to be held back by her escort.

Without warning, Keller turned to Dan just as Bull grabbed his arm hard- but probably not as hard as he grabbed his kid's.

"Hey, you, DA. You got me off last time, dontcha see I still gotta get home to my kid? You're taking her away from her daddy."

"Yes, it's my fault for not doing it earlier." Dan answered caustically. It's my fault this came up in the first place, he thought angrily to himself. He ran his hand through his hair and turned back to the desk.

"The boys down there are gonna love you, man. Plus they'll be your size so the fights'll be more exciting." Roz told the man.

A loaded silence filled the courtroom after he was let go.

"Next case, your Honor?" Mac ventured.

Dan leaned on his desk and looked over to Christine, who was looking on the ground sadly.

"Should we go talk to his daughter?" she asked.

"What's it gonna do?" Dan returned. She shrugged in defeat.

He looked over at Kim. She didn't look as bad as he thought she would. Her face was blank and she had her hands on the desk, physically here but mentally probably back at her dad's house.

"I think we'll take a recess." Harry decided, banging his gavel. "Lunch." he said.

She shot up so hard that her chair fell backwards.

"Sorry, sorry, I..." Kim drifted off and picked it back up before quickly walking out of the room.

Dan swore under his breath and stared at the door swing shut. His feet took him on her path before he had the chance to think about what he was doing.

He walked out right as she turned the corner and Dan jogged down the hall after her. He heard a door close ahead so he slowed down. Empty rooms and offices lined the walls. Dan walked down slowly, turning the door handle quietly at each empty-looking room. Some were locked, most were empty. Finally, he turned a handle near the end of the corridor and saw her sitting there by a window, her back to the door, perching her elbows on the windowsill and looking outside.

Dan gave the door a couple of knocks and put his hands in his pockets. You sucker, he thought to himself.

Kim turned around suddenly with surprise.

Dan looked down and leaned halfheartedly on the doorframe. "It's freezing in here, you should probably close the window." he finally said. She narrowed her eyes at him and Dan sighed and hung his head. "You okay?" he asked.

"Of course I am." she straightened and looked at him with a furrowed brow that almost made him feel stupid for even trying. Dan's ego was fighting hard against something else. While he didn't quite know what it was, he did know that it made him stay where he was and it made him know that her saying she was fine was a lie.

He scratched his nose and walked nonchalantly into the room, letting the door close. The moonlight left streaks through the window and on the floor. One line of light ran across her face, letting one of her eyes shine and left the other in darkness.

"I remember once when you climbed over my fence after my folks went to sleep. I forgot to lock up one of the pigs at sundown and you accidentally ran into it. It squealed and you started screaming."

She looked at him for a moment before nodding. "I guess?"

He continued. "I ran downstairs when my parents woke up and my dad gave me hell for forgetting to lock it up. I took it to the barn and found you hiding almost under the porch."

Dan looked at her hesitantly. Kim looked back out the window. There was a beat of an awkward silence. Fifteen years of awkward silence.

Finally, thank God, she started speaking. "You sat outside with me until they fell asleep even though you were grumpy and tired the entire time. We stayed out until sunrise."

"And we both got so mad that we didn't get to sleep and I told you that you should stop coming over."

The thick hesitance in the air that had started to ease returned when they both remembered how the good memory soured. But then she smiled.

"But I came over anyway because Dad was drunk. You were sitting on your porch waiting for me."

"I'm sorry."

More silence. Kim stared down at the street below.

"Yeah, you said that and gave me some dinner leftovers."

"No." She whipped her head around when he said that. "I'm sorry, I mean, now. I should've seen, I shouldn't have let that guy off that first time."

Kim looked down at her lap. "I'm not the one that needs the apology for that."

"At least she's safe now."

"She's alone now."

"She might have relatives somewhere."

"That kid shouldn't have even been in the courtroom, do you know how much that could scar her- whatever. It's not even my problem. I don't give a shit." She was lying again.

Dan ventured a step further. "I'm sorry about... about everything else, too." God, that was painful to say.

"What?" she asked- Dan hoped in disbelief, because he didn't think he could handle repeating it.

"I shouldn't have acted the way I did. It was unprofessional."

Dan saw the corner of her mouth that was in the moonlight turn up slightly in a tight smile.

"You heard me say it already, right?" she asked, looking at her lap.

"I- yeah, yes I did."

"Okay." she nodded and stood. As soon as she got up, Kim looked lost. Dan saved them both the prolonged awkwardness by sticking his hand out. Kim nodded and shook it. She looked him straight in the eye without blinking and the years almost disappeared. Almost.

"Colleagues." he said.

"Colleagues." she agreed.

"Coming to lunch?" he asked.

"No, I think I want to sit here a little longer. I don't feel great."

He looked at her and she walked back to the window and turned to him again. Just like before, she answered him before he asked.

"I just want to be alone and out of the way for a little. I'm fine."

 _ **A/N:**_ **Shameless admittance that I really like reading how people are liking the story. So if you're an anon or a fellow fanfic-er and you're reading, let me know what you like I can give you more of it, if you have the time! And thank you to my** **consistent reviewer :)**


	9. The Announcement

Kim was at home in her pajamas when she got the call.

"I got the part!" she squealed, jumping on the couch and kicking her feet in the air excitedly.

"The who what?" her roommate poked her head out of the bathroom door, a toothbrush sticking out of her mouth. Sarah was an artist currently working as a gallery secretary, so she could understand the excitement of a breakthrough.

"I got a role in my theatre company's Spring show! It's in April."

"Holy crap that's great. But that's two months from now, are you going to be ready?"

"Probably, it's like a vignette thing about the evolution of religion in America."

"Deep shit."

"I know, I need to find a Bible. And a Koran. And whatever the Jews use."

"A Torah?"

"Sure."

Kim called up Jake just before bed.

"Hey, babe, guess what?" she asked. They had only started seeing each other exclusively a week before, just after the audition.

"You got a part?"

"How did you know?!"

"I just got the call too!"

"Oh my God, that's awesome! Congrats!"

"Yeah, thanks. Wanna get coffee tomorrow? And then I can walk you to work? We can talk about the show."

"Sounds great. I'll come by your place around 3. Night!"

Kim hung up the phone with a smile just as she realized that he didn't congratulate her... but hey, that was a dumb thing to dwell on. What mattered was that she couldn't wait to tell her friends at work- and now, Dan too.

* * *

It was ten minutes to five when Jake walked Kim up the courthouse steps.

"Ugh, I love being early. I hate running in." she said, looking appreciatively at the building. It's the little things.

"Sweet," he said, putting his hands on her waist, "have a great day at work, I'll see you tomorrow."

"They'll give us the rehearsal schedule, right? You don't think it would conflict with my work schedule?"

"Nah, not till the show. It'll probably be during the meetings or more."

"Great." She kissed him goodbye and stood for a minute as he went down the stairs. Kim began turning just as another familiar face started walking up.

It had been about three weeks since she and Dan talked in the empty office. They didn't go out of their way to see to each other, but at least now they talked occasionally. It was... well not nice, but better. He really seemed to have changed since Louisiana. And he knew what a jerk he could be. But sometimes, she saw flashes of someone else. Someone considerate and scared to death of being vulnerable. And those flashes made her wish that she could really talk to him. But this was okay.

"Hey." she said.

He looked up. "Hey." he said calmly. He turned his head just as a hint of blonde disappeared around the corner. "Boyfriend?"

"Pretty much. Date tonight?"

"It's a Monday."

"...date tonight?"

"Belly dancer." he smirked and wiggled his hips.

"Ugh." she said, walking ahead of him. She looked back and hoped that he would have some kind of reaction. Dumping on him was the only way she knew how to be friendly. Or mean. Or anything.

They walked down the hall towards the courtroom.

Kim turned and put her handle on the door.

"Oh, hey, one more thing."

She let go and turned towards Dan again. He was looking down with his index finger under his nose, just like he always did when he was about to say something that was more decent than he was used to.

"What is it?" Kim asked, without the faintest clue as to what it might be.

"I, uhm. I looked into what happened a few weeks ago. I pulled some strings and got some info on the kid whose dad..."

"-got drunk and beat the shit out of her?" Kim said before she could stop herself.

Dan went on quickly. "I followed up with the social workers attached to the case. They tracked down an aunt and uncle she had living just over the river in New Jersey. They agreed to take her in and they've been screened and everything."

Kim smiled and looked at her feet as well before looking back up at Dan, feeling a mixture of relief and happiness as the stress in the back of her mind disappeared. He met her eyes with guarded nonchalance.

"At least she's not in Louisiana." she finally said.

Dan gave a humorless laugh. "Yeah."

"That's nice that you did that. I know you didn't do it for me, but thanks."

He shrugged, repeated "Yeah" one more time, and walked inside the courtroom and held the door open for Kim. It was times like these that she remembered how she felt about him when growing up. Before he started dating belly dancers. But it was a different time.

The others had noticed that the two of them had been making nice, and were relieved more than anything. Kim had to admit that she understood- it _had_ to be uncomfortable and she did _sometimes_ feel bad that it was her presence here that started it. But he didn't have to act the way he did.

She also wished that they could really talk sometimes. Not just be civil, but be friends- at least this was a start. They used to argue even when they were friends, but now it's just been nothing. Both always wanted to be assertive and they sometimes disagreed just to be contrary. It was almost weirder being civil than being enemies.

* * *

When lunch was called, they all sat around the same table now.

"Hey, Harry." Kim called across, still chewing on her sandwich. She was fidgeting in her chair. "I'm going to need the second and third weeks in April off."

"Nice set-up." Dan commented, barely looking up. Kim shot him a dirty look. He saw a couple of people at the table glance at her nervously, but her eyes lightened up after a second and she bit into her sandwich happily.

"Why's that, Kim?" Harry asked.

"I got a part in my theatre company's showcase!"

They all looked up. It'd been so long but little things made him see flashes of who she was when they were younger. Like the fact that she liked to ham up good news as much as possible. But, he supposed it could be, well, cute... sometimes. But also annoying as hell.

"That's great!" Christine said.

"Congrats! We'll have to catch a weekend show." Harry answered. "Of course you can take off."

"Could you introduce us to Johnny Carson?" Bull asked.

"I'll drop him a line." Kim laughed.

Dan watched her bubbling with excitement and remembered when they used to celebrate things by driving twenty miles to the nearest diner for milkshakes. He wondered briefly how much money he wasted on gas for those drives. And then on the last three hour drive home in the summer fourteen or fifteen years ago, and the three hour drive back feeling like a sucker. And then the money in his account now. He hoped Brandi the belly dancer didn't expect him to buy her a big dinner tonight. Dan didn't know how he stood it back then- he hated spending money on people. Especially when he didn't get anything out of it.

"Dan? You okay?"

He blinked and turned towards Christine's voice. "Huh?"

"You've been quiet for longer than usual."

"Not that we mind." Mac supplanted.

Dan leaned back in his chair and put a hand behind his head. "Sorry, just imagining that this sandwich was lobster and that all of you were a busty, young heiress."

"Is that what you're doing tonight?" Harry asked, always more amused than put-off by Dan's lewd comments.

"Nope, I've got her scheduled for Thursday." he said with a grin.

"Why don't we go out and celebrate?" Christine offered.

"I'm going to have early rehearsals for full-cast read throughs the next couple of weeks, but I can do after that." Kim offered.

"Isn't your birthday coming up in a few weeks, Roz?" Christine asked across the table.

"Don't remind me." she replied in her usual deadpan.

Christine was unfazed. "Well, hey, why don't we all go celebrate everything then? I know it's a little late for the show-"

"-it doesn't matter, I don't mind. Let's do Roz's birthday." Kim supplanted quickly.

"I was planning on having a get together with some buddies from my sports bar and other friends, I suppose you guys can come along to my place." Roz said thoughtfully. "As long as you don't embarrass me."

"Roz, how could we embarrass you?" Bull asked. "Want me to come in my clown suit and pretend to be entertainment?"

Roz cocked her eyebrow. "It'll be your funeral."

* * *

After session, Dan stopped by Harry's office to bring some files for the next day.

"You going to the party?" Harry asked.

Dan snorted. "Roz and a group of her burly bar friends?"

"And us."

"You are not making a great case."

Harry just laughed to himself and shook his head. If Dan had to guess- and by guess, he meant if someone held a gun to his head and made him choose- he would say Harry was his best friend.

"You should come. Especially since you and Kim aren't at each others' throats anymore, It'll be nice to be out with everyone properly."

"I'll see if I can make time." Dan answered. "Now, I've got a dance lesson to get to." he sauntered out before Harry could say anything else on the subject.

He popped his head back in one more time a minute later. "Oh and Harry, thanks for your help with child services."

Harry smiled, a little too knowingly for Dan's tolerance. "No problemo, buddy. I'm proud of you."

"Right." Dan walked quickly down the hall, ready to drown whatever sappiness Harry stuck to him in having brandies with Brandi.


	10. Whisky and Cigarettes

"Didn't invite Jake to the party?" Christine asked when Kim walked through her door the day of Roz's birthday.

"Nah," Kim sighed, "he hangs out with mostly other actors and artists and whatnot, I didn't think he'd have fun."

Christine looked at Kim in the mirror as she finished up her makeup. "Are you guys alright?"

Kim walked out of the sightline of the mirror. "Yeah totally. I like him, I like hanging out with him."

"But do you see a future with him?"

"I can't see the future."

"You know what I mean."

"I do, but I'm not trying to find a husband. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow or next week. I'm just looking out for myself."

Christine turned around. "You've got to have people to care about."

Kim shrugged. "I do. But that doesn't mean I expect them to care about me. Then you just get let down. We're the same age, Christine, I know enough." They looked at each other and looked down, both conscious of the pre-party vibe dying down. Kim smirked at Christine. "But hey, he's got a great ass."

Christine laughed and began putting on her shoes, both grateful that the cloud was cleared. "What'd you get Roz?"

"I went to some movie shop and found replicas of Rocky Balboa's boxing gloves. You?"

"...some wine and a necklace."

"Fancy."

They shared a cab up to Roz's place and got there just as the party was staring to bustle.

Roz lived around the Harlem-Upper West Side border in a spacious one bedroom with hardwood floors.

"How much does she make?" Kim whispered to herself. Pretty soon, she found herself on the couch with Harry, Christine, Mac and Quon Li, and Bull.

Roz was going from person to person, talking to each of her guests. Kim swore that she saw her smile more in the half hour that she had been there so far than anytime before that. And she had a surprisingly warm smile.

Kim got up to get herself another drink just as the door opened right next to her.

"Dan, you made it! Harry called from across the room.

"Here." Dan said to Roz, handing her a bottle of bourbon.

"Hey, this is good stuff. Wouldn't have expected it from you." Roz said, examining it.

"Don't get used to it." He said before kissing her on the cheek. "But happy birthday."

"Thanks, Fielding. We'll crack it open later and check it out."

"On the rocks?"

"Neat."

"My kind of woman."

Roz smiled again before walking over to put it in her liquor cabinet.

He passed by Kim to hang his coat.

"Drink?" she asked, holding out the cup she just poured.

"What is it?" he asked, looking in.

"Tequila."

"No thanks." He turned towards the table to pour something for himself.

Kim looked into her cup and then took a sip. "Suit yourself."

They both ended up sitting back in their little group on the couch and after another hour and a half of movement and strong drinks, Roz's friend walked over and muttered something in her ear.

She turned to the group. "Hey, my buddy is bartending just a block south, you guys wanna head over?

"Now?" Harry asked.

"It's only ten thirty." Christine supplanted. Kim didn't really like prying in things that didn't concern her, but she couldn't help staring at how great Christine and Harry looked sitting next to each other all night. She knew Christine had started seeing someone, but she was so invested in Kim's personal life that she thought about returning the favor.

"You guys are great." the tequila blurted out before her brain could process. Luckily, nobody else was quite sober either so she just got a few smiles and laughs.

"Right back at you." Bull said while punching her shoulder a little too hard.

Everyone began to get ready to move. When Kim stood, she barely registered what was going on before her legs set her right back down.

"You alright there?" Mac asked, grabbing her elbow.

"Yeah," Kim answered with a light shake of her head, "just stood too fast." Thanks tequila, she said in her mind. "I'm going to run to the bathroom and then get my coat, can you guys wait up?"

After assorted yes's and nods, Kim made her way to the bathroom with a pit stop in the kitchen for a glass of water.

Everyone had grabbed their coats and her friends were standing by the door waiting for her.

She reached the room and quickly grabbed the door handle. Kim quickly went to push and stumbled in when the door ended up pulling her.

She tripped inside and swore, looking around the room in confusion.

"Everything okay?" Dan asked with raised eyebrows.

"Great!" Kim said too loud. "Just- just didn't expect anyone else in here. Are you going to the bar?"

"I already spent money on a bottle to bring here."

"Come on, don't be stingy."

"Some people have bills."

Kim thought for a moment. All she could think of was how drunk she was.

"I'll buy you a drink."

He looked away and looked back at her. "Fine."

She smiled and grabbed her jacket.

Once they were outside, Kim lit her cigarette.

"You smoke now? Since when?" he asked disapprovingly. Kim grinned despite herself. "What?"

She looked down. "It's corny but... I don't know, you just sounded so much like you did before."

Right after it slipped out of her mouth Kim hesitated. That didn't feel like something you'd say out loud.

Dan's silence made her uncomfortable for the few seconds it lasted. "What's that supposed to mean?" he finally asked coolly, disparagingly. Like he spoke now.

"Remember when I stayed over your house when we were younger, and for the first time you put me in a sleeping bag on the ground instead of your bed?"

"And I woke up with you hogging my pillows and blankets, yeah."

"You went, 'You shouldn't do that, Kimby. I've got school in an hour.'"

"What's your point?"

"It just sounded like you should've called me Kimby in that sentence. Know what I mean?"

Dan grumbled and scoffed and Kim immediately regretted how dumb she sounded. Not that she cared how she sounded in front of him, but everyone else... that's what she told herself. She rubbed her eye, forgetting the makeup on it.

* * *

Dan did remember exactly what she was talking about. He remembered waking up with her wrapped in his blanket and somehow cuddled into him, and he must've held her for the warmth. The liquor in his system made the memory unpleasantly vivid.

Everyone filed inside and got drinks immediately. When you're that age, real parties are so few and far between anymore that an excuse to really have a night out wasn't taken lightly.

He sat down and she sat across from him. Dan looked around to see if there were any more chairs at other parts of the table for her to sit at. They were supposed to be making nice now, but still she ticked him off. It wasn't anything she said or did per se that annoyed him, it was the fact that her very presence made Dan unsure about how he felt for the first time in a long time.

Were they friends when they were younger? Yes, they were. Was he upset when she left? Well, who wouldn't be when your friend gets up and runs away without telling you. Did he have feelings for her back then? Sure, fine, it was a long time ago.

Kimberly Jenkins wanted everyone to like her. That didn't mean she cared about them.

The problem here, though, is that Dan doesn't care either. So why was he so annoyed?

She was sitting across from him, talking to Christine and Bull. She had a glass of wine in her hand, which didn't bode well for the tequila and gin in her stomach. Christine's face was flushed, but sadly she wasn't a girl who got easier by the shot.

"How you doing, buddy?" Harry clapped his hand on Dan's shoulder heavily.

"Harry." Dan nodded. They clinked beers and drank. "Where'd Roz go?"

"Talking to her bartender friend over there. I gotta say, I haven't seen her this smiley in... ever, I think."

"Well, it's either the drinks or the apocalypse." Dan answered. He finished his beer and picked himself up for another drink.

She grabbed him by the cuff of his jacket. "Hey, are you headed to the bar? I'm getting a drink too, hold on."

"Are you going to grab one too?" Dan asked Harry when he noticed him fiddling with his empty glass.

"Me? Oh, no," Harry answered with an innocent shake of his head, "I'm waiting a bit. You go."

Of course. Thanks for nothing, Stone, Dan thought.

"So where'd you go to law school?" Kim asked as they waited for the bartender to get to them.

"That was long ago... I forgot you didn't know."

"Pretty much after college it's all blank until here."

"Louisiana."

"I'd have thought you'd be gunning for Columbia or Harvard."

"I didn't."

"Yeah. I'm glad you finally made it to New York."

"Mhm. I've been here." He kept looking forward. "How was London?" he finally asked- quickly, as if he were ashamed.

"It was amazing. Europe is great in general. Everyone's just more open, they're relaxed, they care less."

"Maybe you should've stayed there."

She turned towards him and opened her mouth to speak before closing it again.

"I promised you a drink, didn't I?" she finally said.

"I already bought my drinks."

"No, I said I would. Let's do a shot."

"That's a terrible idea."

"You pick, I'll drink."

"Whisky."

Her face fell slightly with her hatred of it. Dan raised his eyebrows.

"You shouldn't. You shouldn't have liquor after beer."

"I'll be fine."

She smirked at him after a minute and laid money on the bar. "So will I."

When they arrived, Dan took a sip from his and watched her gulp hers down and subsequently gasp for air.

"That's a waste of good scotch."

"That's the only way I can take it." she coughed. The music changed and her face lit up with it. "I love this song!"

 _I'll never be your beast of burden_

 _I've walked for miles my feet are hurting_

 _All I want is for you to make love to me_

 _Am I hard enough_

 _Am I rough enough_

 _Am I rich enough_

 _I'm not too blind to see_

 _I'll never be your beast of burden_

Dan watched her close her eyes and sway back and forth. His mind went blank as he stared, until just one thing entered his mind, an echo carried from long ago when he was having a bad day and she kept uselessly trying to cheer him up- "I'll never be a reason you're not happy."

She mouthed the words with a smile on her face. Did it count as lying if she was repeating song lyrics?

"You have any more cigarettes?" he finally asked.

She leaned her elbow on the bar and cocked an eyebrow. "You?"

"Yeah well, sometimes you feel it."

"Sure then, let's go outside."

"You don't have to come."

"No, I'll have one too."

* * *

Kim barely registered the cold air hitting her face. From Dan's measured steps, she could tell that his drinks were hitting him.

She frowned into the box. "One left. Share?"

Dan agreed and she lit the cigarette.

"When did you start?" he asked her.

"When I was eighteen maybe? It used to be a regular thing but now it's just about once every couple weeks when I'm out."

"Enough for you to own a pack."

"God, you're judgemental. I've had this pack for like two months now."

Dan shrugged and took a few drags.

"Why do you?" she nodded towards the cigarette.

"Stress." he answered, looking forward.

"Do I make you stressed?" she asked, finding her footing.

"Well you _are_ annoying _._ "

Kim giggled and looked at the ground. "You know what I did that day you dropped me off at home?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked dismissively. Dan glanced at her and dropped the facade. "What?"

"I made lunch, broke up with Liam, then treated myself to a movie."

"Then you skipped town?" he slurred slightly.

"Nope," Kim answered, feeling her own twinge of annoyance, "that was a couple of months later. After dad finally drank himself to death and I was sure you weren't coming back-"

"-I did come back."

"Deeeefinitely not. Don't lawyer yourself out of this."

Dan turned to her and cocked his head. "I came back in August. I went to your house and found someone else living there. My parents told me your dad died and you left."

"So what'd you do then?"

"I left."

"So why'd you come back?"

"You wanted me to kiss you and I never did."

Kim narrowed her eyes, her mind too fuzzy to think rationally. "Did you ever hear me say that?"

"Am I wrong?"

"Okay. Okay even if I _did_ \- which either way, is self-centred for you to assume- why would I ever want you to drive all the way to give a dumb teenage girl a pity kiss?"

"A dumb teenage girl knew what I should've done before I did."

"So _you_ have been hating me all this TIME because you decided that you finally knew what you wanted and I didn't fall perfectly into your plan?! I didn't sit around and wait for you to maybe remember me?"

"You could've said something, anything-"

"-and you're drunk!"

"So are you."

"Exactly so we shouldn't even be talking about any-"

"-Shut up."

And he kissed her.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this out, but if anyone's still tuned in I hope you like it! Reviews much appreciated :)**_


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